Mrs Henderson Presents Herself
by elsiecarson
Summary: Laura Henderson had opened a theatre in London, but she needed someone to help her run the theatre and produce plays for her. The man she chose was Vivien van Damme. The theatre was a huge success and Laura and Vivien grew closer together. Laura's husband had died and she desperately needed companionship. This is Vivien and Laura's love story.
1. Laura's Morning

Laura woke up early on a Friday morning and rolled over in bed to look out the window. Typical British weather she thought; it's raining again. Though it was raining that certainly wasn't going to spoil her day. She was meeting Vivien van Damme after breakfast and they were going to spend the day together and she was to spend the night with him for the first time.

Laura smiled when she thought of Vivien. The intimateness of their relationship was wonderful. They knew each other so well that they only had to look at each other, and sometimes not even that, to know what the other was thinking. She recognized her love for him when they were casting for their first show which happened to be a nude review, as they all are now, and the girls who were auditioning asked him to remove all of his clothes too, and he reluctantly agreed causing Laura to walk in on a scene of Vivien sitting in his seat butt naked and the girls on stage being equally nude. This scene still made her smile and shiver with delight.


	2. Vivien's Morning

Across town Vivien had awoken with a smile on his face knowing that today was the day that Laura would stay overnight for the first time. He was, terrified, nervous, and excited all at once.

The two on opposite sides of town each went through their wardrobes, carefully selecting their outfits for the day, and in the case of Laura her overnight bag had to be packed. When the two sat down to breakfast separately they may have been surprised to discover that both ate the same thing for breakfast every morning: bacon, scrambled eggs, fried tomato, and whole wheat toast with apricot jam.

Laura jumped in the car after breakfast and had her chauffeur drive as quickly as he could and the law would allow to Vivien's estate on the other side of town. She had never been so nervous in her life and she found her mind unable to stay focused on anything. When Vivien's house came into view she was overwhelmed with the greatness of it. It stood out in the grime of London. Compared to her country home it was small, but it looked cosier than where she lived. In her excitement, Laura forgot that her driver was still there and she jumped out of the car and ran up the front steps, and had rung the doorbell before he'd even gotten her bags out of the car. When Vivien finally answered the door Laura without thinking twice threw herself into Vivien's arms and kissed his cheek.

"Good morning to you, too, Laura." Vivien said as he took her hand and led her into the house. As he was about to shut the front door, Laura's chauffeur brought her bag in. "You can leave that bag right here in the entranceway, thank you. I'll take it up myself later."

"I missed you." Laura said quietly as they walked into the sitting room. She's touched that he wants to do things himself.

"I missed you, too. Come and sit down and we can talk. We haven't seen each other for a while. We've both been very busy." Vivien sat down on the couch and patted the fabric next to him to urge Laura to sit next to him. Laura smiled her cheeky smile and sat on his lap instead. "You do know to arouse a man, Laura." Vivien said as he kissed Laura's cheek and then her lips.

"That is my job: to make you love me." Laura said as she curled into Vivien's arms.


	3. Please in a Teasing Way

"The house is lovely, darling. It's so calm and peaceful."

"I bought it especially because of that fact. I needed somewhere to disappear to after the hustle and bustle of running a theatre all week. I'm glad you like it. It's my peaceful place and I've only shared it with you." Vivien stroked Laura's long hair, which was up, and snuggled closer to her.

"I'm glad you feel so comfortable with me that you let me invade your sanctuary. It's something very rare for a man to allow a woman to see his favourite places in the world. I feel very lucky to have found a man who will share his thoughts and emotions with me without fear." Laura smiled and smoothed Vivien's hair back from his face a little.

Vivien said nothing, but slipped his arms around Laura's waist and pulled her closer to himself. She cuddled into him and placed her head on his chest and listened to him breathe and his heart beat under the grey tweed vest he had on. They could spend whole days like this: not speaking, but learning about each other through their actions in these quiet moments. They both loved moments like this.

Laura finally spoke up and said, "Are you going to give me a tour or are we going to sit here all day? I'm itching to see your bedroom. I get the impression it will be very masculine looking."

"You are a very forward, cheeky woman. Heaven forbid I wasn't a forward, cheeky man I might be offended. You do know how to tease. I hope you didn't do this publicly when your late husband was courting you. The adults at the time would have been utterly embarrassed." Vivien said as he stood up and took Laura's hand.

"I wasn't like this with my late husband at all. You've brought all this out. The potential was all there you just teased me enough to bring it out of me. I couldn't be like that with my first husband, but he wasn't cheeky and teasing like you. I was always like this I just showed it to select people like you." Laura said as they climbed the grand staircase to the second floor.


	4. The Bedroom

Vivien turned left towards the spare bedroom, the lounge, and the master bathroom. "I feel I should carry you across the threshold in such a momentous occasion as this. Doing anything else would diminish the importance of this occasion. You're staying over for the first time and you're getting into my bedroom and my pants for the first time. Do you mind?"

"I would have been disappointed if you hadn't suggested carrying me across the threshold. You always were a genuine romantic in situations like this. I wish my late husband had been as romantic as you are it may have made me more affectionate." Laura said as Vivien bent down to pick Laura up. "Be careful I don't want you to sprain something and I'm not as light as I used to be."

"You are such a tease. You're not heavy at all. I love seeing you so open and free like this. You're never like this in London at the theatre." Vivien said as he picked Laura up with ease and kicked the door of his bedroom open as he walked in. He set her down gently and said, "Well, what do you think?"

Laura surveyed the room carefully. "Just as I thought: it's terribly masculine. We shall have to do something about that. The colour is dark looking. The room feels very you though, it's warm and cozy." She said as she joked with Vivien. They were able to be utterly natural with each other and they were used to each others' sense of humour.

"Why don't we put the bed to good use? You and I have always fit together so well both in personality and especially when we dance we should see if we fit together in other ways as well." Vivien said as he went over and started up his record player and then walked back to Laura, pulled her close and began to dance slowly with her.

"I love dancing with you. It feels so natural. I never felt this way with my late husband. You must be the love of my life because I have never felt this way about anyone in my life." Laura said as she leaned her head on Vivien's chest.


End file.
